


Life Support

by Wolvesandwerewolves



Series: Guillotine - All for the Game [3]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 18:07:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13576080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolvesandwerewolves/pseuds/Wolvesandwerewolves
Summary: Neil knows Andrew killed his mother. He wished he'd been able to do the same to his father.Andrew gets a visitor at the hospital.





	Life Support

**Author's Note:**

> *coughs* I don't know how to title anything, so I'm just going to continue borrowing song titles. This one is from Sam Smith. 
> 
> I hope you guys like this one! I have the next chapter planned, but after that I think there's going to be a time skip. My goal is to get Neil and the Monsters going to college together and to be united with the Foxes. 
> 
> If anyone wants more of them in high school, let me know and I'll try to do a missing scenes type of thing once I get this thing figured out the rest of the way.
> 
> Also, I realized I mentioned that Neil lived in an apartment and in the next fic it was a house. Whoops. Let's just say he moved sometime in the 3 years he's been with Cora and he hasn't smoked with her since they moved into their new house. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Please comment and leave kudos :)

  
Andrew had bruises adorning the sharp line of his jaw, trailing up towards his cheek and lightly brushing over one eye. It wasn't black or swollen, but the deep purple lingered underneath the socket of one eye, giving the illusion of sleepless nights and restless days. Most of his face had faint scratches on it, light enough not to scar, but they would still sting.

One arm was in a sling, due to a torn cuff, and the bruises continued from his neck and shoulders to the rest of him. From what little Neil could see of his chest beneath the loose hospital gown, there was a muddled, abstract line of soft purples and angry reds, reaching up to kiss his collarbone and throat.

He'd gotten lucky, the doctors said. After all, Tilda Minyard hadn't survived the crash. She'd broken her neck when the car rolled on her side. Andrew was smart enough to have worn a seatbelt; Tilda was not.

Neil couldn't help but be grateful. He knew it wasn't the emotion he should have been feeling, despite the fact that his friend had survived. His instincts wouldn't stop laughing at him, mocking him. _You should be upset. You should be afraid._

_A storm's coming,_ he'd said. _Tilda hit Aaron again._

It didn't take Neil long to figure out. Andrew practicality told him that he planned on killing his mother. And while he knew it should scare him that Andrew had killed someone, had killed his own mother, it didn't. Neil had grown up around death; it wasn't a stranger to him. Andrew had a reason—he didn’t think Andrew was even capable of doing anything without a reason, without motive—and now Aaron was safe. More importantly, Andrew was safe. He doubted Tilda would bother to tell them apart.

Neil almost envied him. He wished he'd been able to do the same thing to his father.

The emotion was fleeting, though. The more he studied Andrew’s face slack with sleep, his hair ruffled and sticking up at odd angles, and the slight stubble on his jawline, all he could feel was relieved. Andrew was safe and his mother was dead.

Eventually, he started to stir. Neil wasn't sure he wanted to be there when his friend woke up. But he wasn't ready to leave, either. Even if it meant facing—and asking—uncomfortable questions. Neil supposed the least he could do was sit and talk about things even if it made him uncomfortable. They couldn't be ignored and Andrew didn't deserve that. Not when he'd done everything he could to protect his brother.

_His brother, who had yet to visit._

Brown eyes fluttered open cautiously, dazedly staring into open space. It took a few seconds, but Andrew focused and glanced blearily around the room. He paused when he spotted Neil, but said nothing and continued his visual sweep. He looked back, then, and stared at him, bored as ever. Neil resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“You missed school,” he accused lightly, lazily kicking his foot as if to make his punctuate his statement.

Andrew looked severely unimpressed, but that was normal. He stared at Neil intently, almost enough to be distressing. But Neil had been the subject of his intent stares for almost a full school year now, and he figured Andrew had long ago found whatever it was he was looking for. Neil still had plenty to hide, but Andrew wasn't searching for that. Neil wasn't sure what he was looking for.

Eventually, Andrew gestured stiffly towards the table with his good hand. Neil handed him a cup of water with a huge straw in it. His hand trembled when he held it, but Neil didn't comment. He cleared his throat weakly, and Neil silently took the cup back when he was done and set it close enough for Andrew to grab again.

  
“Our deal is on pause,” he croaked. This time, Neil rolled his eyes. “I can't hold up my end. You can go.”

“I'm not going to,” he said. “I like helping you learn German, and I'm going to uphold my end even if you can't. Besides.” He paused. _A storm's coming_. “I wanted to talk.”

Andrew shifted minutely on the bed, wincing, but didn't answer. His pupils were blown; Neil wondered what type of painkillers he was on.

“Andrew, I know.”

He sighed, almost resigned or uncaring, or maybe mocking, but Neil didn't buy it. There was something intense in his eyes. There always was. “You gonna tell your mom on me, Josten?”

Neil huffed out a cruel laugh, decidedly unamused. “She's works with the FBI,” he said, “but she doesn't deal with this stuff. And you didn't cross state lines, which means its not federal. Technically, it's none of her business.”

Andrew narrowed his gaze. “The cops, then?”

Neil shrugged. “I don't know any cops.”

Andrew scoffed. He studied him quietly for a few minutes. “And in return?”

Neil's brow furrowed. “This isn't a deal.”

“Yes, it is,” he snapped, no heat. “Think of something.”

Neil frowned, trying to follow his train of thoughts. Andrew knew Neil was a pathological liar, at least to everyone else. He wouldn't trust him for his word, even if he knew he was being honest. A promise didn't hold much ground. A deal was something equal, a give and take; incentive to uphold his word. Not that Neil needed incentive, but Andrew might need assurance.

He wasn't sure what he wanted to ask for. There were plenty of things he wanted, but those things didn't feel right for a deal, especially not like this. He supposed he could give up information, to set them even—after all, even if Neil wasn't willing to mention his father, or the fact that he was in WitSec, it's not like Neil hadn't killed before, either, and that would be an acceptable trade; an eye for an eye—but he couldn't force himself. “Go to sleep,” he said instead, to buy time. “I'm pretty sure you're concussed and maybe high. You look like shit.”

“That's not an answer, Josten,” he grumbled. “Go away and think of something better. I'm tired of looking at your stupid face.”

Neil grinned. “You wouldn't have to, if you'd just go to bed.” It was a weak response, but Andrew didn't call him out on it. Neil got up anyways, pausing to study Andrew’s face, his bruises, his posture. His knuckles gripped the sheets until they were white against the red scrapes and bruises. The IV in his arm tailed to a machine and a saline bag. As much as he wanted to, to experience it again, to quell his nervous curiosity, he didn't think Andrew would appreciate being asked _yes or no_ right now. Besides, when Andrew kissed him he was planning to commit murder and maybe kill himself in the process. He shouldn't expect anything from a goodbye. He'd wait until Andrew made another move and then examine his thoughts. Until then, it wasn't important.

“Bis später, Andrew.”

**Author's Note:**

> Again, thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! Please talk to me in the comments and leave kudos! 
> 
> You can follow me on tumblr at Ohneilthefoxholecourt or Wolvesandwerewolvesbaby


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